Toyota and Honda to come-out with new diesel cars

Honda and Toyota, Japan based leading car-makers, are planing to develop diesel engines for their passenger cars. The decision came at a time when their arc rivals like Maruti and Hyundai are already planning aggressively to catch-up with the rising demand for diesel engines. 

Honda India, which sells some of the most popular cars in India including sedans Honda city and Civic, and luxury hatchback Honda CR-V, is yet to launch a diesel based car in India. The company is developing a small diesel engine for the fastest growing markets like India and China, so that it can capitalize on the vast opportunity exists in these markets. On the other hand, Toyota, the world's largest car maker, is going to roll-out a diesel version of its sedan Corolla Altis in India soon, which will be its first diesel-driven passenger car in the country. 

Mr Jnaneswar Sen, vice president (marketing), Honda Siel, said while commenting on the company's plans of launching a diesel run passenger car in India, we feel the need to develop a diesel engine, adding that more than half the vehicles sold in Europe are diesel. 

On the other hand Toyota India earns 90% of revenues from sales of its popular diesel run utility vehicles like Innova and Fortuner in the country. While diesel is cleaner advanced technology, gasoline will also be important for us, as per a statement given by Sandeep Singh, deputy MD (sales and marketing) of Toyota Kirloskar Motors.